Hawks Will Stay In Seattle Microsoft Co-Founder Makes Deal To Halt Move

On a day reserved for pro football’s conscription of college talent, Microsoft cofounder Paul Allen stole headlines by signing an option to purchase the Seattle Seahawks from owner Ken Behring.

Although it does not call for an immediate shift of ownership, the deal announced Saturday thwarts Behring’s effort to move the franchise to Southern California, a threat that spawned a lawsuit by King County attempting to force the team to stay.

“This option is the first step toward ensuring the Seahawks remain in Seattle,” Allen said in a news release. “Over the next year, I will be thoroughly evaluating the financial performance of the team, the level of support within the business community, and the stadium options available to us.”

Allen, a 42-year-old multibillionaire, was co-founder of Microsoft and currently owns the Portland Trail Blazers in the National Basketball Association.

During the 14-month option period, Ken Behring will retain 100 percent team ownership, and his son, David, will continue serving as team president.

Lawsuits against the Seahawks - stemming from the proposed move - have been suspended and will be dropped if Allen exercises the purchase option.

An eventual purchase would be contingent on the National Football League’s changing a policy that bars cross-ownership of professional sports franchises.

“Our understanding is that (NFL officials) have been discussing those rules and talking about changing them,” said Bob Whitsitt, president of the Trail Blazers who has served as Allen’s point man in negotiations with the Seahawks.

A statement from the NFL clarified the matter: “Under today’s agreement, there is no transfer of ownership, and league approval is not required at this time. Currently, the NFL is reviewing its (cross-ownership) policy.”

Whitsitt said that Allen was lured into the picture when Behring announced his intention to move the team.

“A lot of people came to Paul asking him to get involved to try to keep the team in Seattle,” Whitsitt said. “When it first started out, it was more of a community venture to see if he could be part of a long-term solution.”

Although no details were disclosed, the total purchase price is expected to be in the $200 million neighborhood. Behring purchased the team in 1988 for $99 million.

Behring claimed that the remaining 10 years on the team’s lease with the Kingdome should be considered void because it is no longer a first-class facility.

During the next 14 months, Allen and his staff will have to study some of the “stadium issues,” Whitsitt said. But they will do it without engendering the sense of extortion the county felt in dealing with Behring’s threats.

“We can do it without any guns to anybody’s head,” Whitsitt said. “We can do it as a bunch of people working together and we can do it in a fashion that is win-win for everybody.”

But Behring’s attempted relocation has fomented considerable hostility in the community. And his continued ownership position must certainly give Seahawk fans a degree of ambivalence about supporting the team during this transition period.

“We’re not talking about Ken Behring,” Whitsitt said when asked about the public relations problem Behring’s continued ownership might cause. “We’re in this for the Seattle Seahawks - the football team. We’re not going to try to comment on all the things that have happened.

“This is a great football town,” he said. “(We need to) do things properly and commit to our fans again; we’ve got to do a good job and continue to have a good product on the field.”

David Behring, appearing in the press room at Seahawks headquarters after Whitsitt’s presentation, said he would “do everything possible to make sure this team is in the playoffs.”

The younger Behring said he hoped Seahawk fans would judge him on his individual merits. His choice of words hinted at an attempt to distance himself from his father’s dismal public reputation. Asked if he had been on the same page as his father throughout the controversy, David Behring hesitated for long moments. “We’ve had philosophical differences regarding certain issues,” he finally responded.

On a day when the Seahawks landed several prized players in the draft’s early rounds, the biggest smile on the face of coach Dennis Erickson came late in the evening when he confirmed to reporters that a deal had been reached.

“The reason I’ve got a big smile is because we’re going to stay in Seattle,” said Erickson, a Western Washington native who returned home last year. “That’s the important thing to me, knowing we’re going to be here for, hopefully, a long period of time.”

The uncertainty surrounding the team’s location, Erickson admitted, probably hurt the Seahawks during the period in which they were trying to sign free agents.

Whitsitt, clearly fatigued by the negotiations, said this was a day of hope for fans who had feared the team was lost.

“Hopefully, we can remove the cloud that has surrounded this franchise,” he said.

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